Best way for reference to an existing design?

[larsVMB3B]

Hi!

I am prototyping three board designs which all have in common:

• The exact same PCB-size
• Sharing a base of 75% of the same components (placed at the same positions)
• Will be haring the same PCB enclosure

As a first step I was thinking of creating a BaseDesign (schematic + PCB) for 75% of the components. Then create Design1, 2, 3 and then link/reference each of them to the BaseDesign. But it seems BaseDesign can be changed separately (e.g by mistake) within e.g. Design1 and then propagate involuntarily to the other designs… Is this correct?

For PCB enclosure I was thinking of designing it entirely in BaseDesign and thus it would hopefully propagate into Design1,2,3. Alternatively design a separete 3D proejct and linked it to BaseDesign somehow.

Please advice for any best practice

Many thanks in advance

Lars

[jorge_garcia]

Hello Lars,

I hope you're doing well. Here's how I would handle this for the Electronics:

1) Make the BaseDesign as it's own Electronics Design

2) From here you can make copies of the BaseDesign and use it as a starting point for the other boards. 

OR
3) If you've already started the other boards you can use the Insert Electronic Design command to bring the BaseDesign into the board designs.

One thing to keep in mind, in these scenarios there is no link back to BaseDesign so you don't have to worry about an error propagating across multiple boards.

Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Best Regards,

[larsVMB3B]

Thanks Jorge,

OK, but doing 1+2) would mean BaseDesign needs to be changed in several places if needs to be updated, right?

I guess I need to choose from that or to reference dynamically BaseDesign?

[jorge_garcia · Accepted solution]

Hello @larsVMB3B,

In Fusion Electronics there is no dynamic referencing between designs like there is in the modeling environment. There is some work being done on this front, but it's not possible today.

Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

Best Regards,